Sneak peek at the Still Water

By Chris Potter

Thursday

Jul 19, 2018 at 6:41 PMJul 19, 2018 at 6:42 PM

Wellsville Development Corp hosts look at new Main Street restaurant

WELLSVILLE — Slots filled up quick when the Wellsville Development Corporation announced a limited number of RSVPs for a special sneak peek at Main Street’s newest attraction, the Still Water Pizza and Grill.

About 60 individuals lucky enough to snag a spot turned out Wednesday night, getting a glimpse behind the curtain before the restaurant opens later this month. Construction crews have been hard at work for the last several months transforming the old Pizza Hut building into a glistening new eatery.

“It’s going really well,” said Anna Joyce-Drury, who owns the restaurant with her husband Dave. “This is our second sneak peek for the WDC and we can’t wait to do more.”

The Still Water Pizza and Grill, an offshoot of Dave’s popular Still Water restaurant in Belfast, plans to open sometime in the next two weeks. Employee training starts Monday. The Still Water had 80 people turn out for open interviews over two days, and the restaurant ultimately hired around 25 workers, including about a dozen full-time positions.

Alfred State Culinary Arts Instructor Brian Decker has been tapped to serve as the general manager.

“He’s a great dough maker,” Joyce-Drury said. “We’ll be making all our own dough, sub rolls and things like that.”

In addition to pizza, the Still Water menu will also offer staples such as burgers and sandwiches, pastas, ribeye steak, fish fry, subs, salads and the like, plus “Stilly Specialties.” The new venue also features a bar area and outdoor dining.

Wednesday night’s event featured a small sampling of what’s to come. The Wellsville Development Corporation hopes to host more sneak peek events in the future.

“We started our VIP sneak peeks with the SPCA earlier this summer,” said WDC co-chair Heather Niedermaier. “This is the next one, and hopefully we’ll have new businesses popping up that want them, or businesses remodeling or doing revamps.”

The old Pizza Hut building required extensive renovation to bring it into the 21st century. The exterior of the structure now bears little resemblance to the signature Pizza Hut facade.

“Duggan and Duggan, Tim Shea and Liam Shea and their crew, Doug Reed and his crew have done an amazing job,” Joyce-Drury said. “It’s basically a new building sitting on the old slab. There’s a little bit of a throwback to the Pizza Hut feel inside with the booths.”

Wednesday’s event featured another nod to Pizza Hut with mints included in a goody bag for visitors.

The Wellsville Development Corporation grew out of the former Beautification Committee. Although improving the appearance of Wellsville is still a focus, it has expanded into other avenues of community involvement.

“We’re still focused on the beautification of Wellsville, hence the flower planters and all the holiday decorations,” Niedermaier said. “I would say that our newest venture is looking to get people involved, out into the local businesses and out onto not just Main Street, but Wellsville in general. We’re also looking to get kids more involved. We’re kind of bringing them to the table early so they want to stick around.”

The WDC has a number of events planned for the coming months, including a farm to table dinner in conjunction with the Fassett Greenspace in August. The group meets monthly. To get involved, reach out to its Facebook page or email wellsvilledevelopmentcorp@mail.com

“We’re always looking for volunteers for actual legwork at events and things like putting out planters. We can always use new ideas and fresh perspectives as well,” Niedermaier said.

As for the Still Water, stay tuned for an official opening date when it’s finalized. The restaurant will also be represented during Saturday’s Main Street Festival Balloon Rally weekend.

When it opens, it will continue a recent string of positive developments on Main Street, including the Fassett Greenspace right next door, which repurposed a vacant lot for community use this summer, and revitalization at 23 North Main less than a stone’s throw down the street. Funds to transform the former Burrous Building into municipal offices and affordable housing came through from the state in May.

“It’s very exciting. The Wellsville Brewery will also be joining us, we’re already doing some cross promotion with them,” Joyce-Drury said. “We have some different things in the works with all these new up and coming businesses. We can’t wait to work with the Greenspace next door.

“We’re excited to meet everyone, serve them and give them a place that’s a comfortable and inviting place to hang out. We’ll see you soon.”

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